We were there to shoot chimps. With cameras that is. We were dropped off deep in the forest and set off walking at a steady pace. The temperature was not yet high, but the humidity was not conducive to fast jungle whomping. We were lucky. We soon came across our prey.
The first thing we heard sounded like a shotgun, rapidly followed by a cacophony of screaming. Annick’s face was a picture. The chimps were not happy. Thankfully they hadn’t been provided with shotguns, but instead hammered at a tree with their fists making the loud sound we had heard.
They soon settled and let us get quite close, one even walked through our small group. Photography was challenging (black primates in a dark forest) but I’ll have to wait until our return to see the results, snaps were just not possible.
It was a privilege to get so close.
Our guide told us of how the chimps have learned to hunt. Their preference is the red colobus (pictured below). These monkeys seem to have a death-wish, as they love to attack the chimps. He gave the example of two young chimps he saw in a tree next to another full of red colobus. The colobus saw the two chimps alone in the tree and thought that they would be easy pickings. One jumped across towards the tree with the chimps, at which point one of the chimps yanked the tree branch out of the way, leaving the colobus on a trajectory past the tree to crash into the ground where awaited a group of adult chimps ready to tear him apart.
It is not difficult to see how only about ten million years separate us and chimps from common ancestors. They have so many human traits. Take, for instance, the female chimp, when seeing an alpha male with a large chunk of monkey, will proffer their bottom to the male for them to touch. The male then gives the female a chunk of meat. Who da boss?
From there to a meal in a remote restaurant as the only guests (no bottom touching necessary). The couple of drinks we had came to a jaw dropping 33,000 schillings, which magically doubled when converted to dollars. Thankfully our guide, Emanuel, stepped in to save the day. It came to about six quid in the end.
We then went for a long afternoon stroll around a swamp. Where we saw lots of…. swamp.
And a few monkeys and birds. Here’s a competition to see how educated you guys are. Here’s a rare monkey:
Here’s a rare bird (sorry about poor quality pic; very difficult to take):
What are they? (Prizes for correct answer)
In other words, I can’t remember what they’re called.
Tomorrow we move on to the Queen Elizabeth National Park for some lion hunting.
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